Emmie Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Hello! So DD is trying to figure out her desired Calculus curriculum for the fall. After 4 years of homeschooling, she is desperate to not have a stressful math year (not stressful bc of the learning, but because we were so new to figuring out curriculum). Currently, she is thinking of using the following mixed together: Thinkwell Calculus Saxon Calc. and Maybe (she is getting the advanced algebra & Trig soon, so she will see if she likes it) Life of Fred Calculus. Originally, she was just going to use Thinkwell, but we saw a lot of people saying that Thinkwell is best used as a supplement. She really liked Teaching Textbooks lectures, so she says she NEEDS to have some sort of lecture for Calc., which is why we are definitely going to use Thinkwell either way. Anyway, she kind of likes the idea of using a textbook as well, which is why she was thinking Saxon. However, her online school uses this textbook - http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Its-Applications-13th-Edition/dp/032184890X - so that could also be an option. Anyway, do *you* have any specific recommendations as to what has worked for your kids for calculus? Any curriculum recommendations are welcome over here, and in case you didn't notice we are totally open to using multiple curriculums! One note, is that we have - for the most part- chosen not to consider Chalkdust for two reasons- DD isn't sure that the lectures would hold her attention (she is afraid the layout might bore her) and it is a little pricey, so we don't want to risk her not liking them and having already bought them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 What has she used thus far? TT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmie Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 She has used TT for algebra 1 ,2, and geometry and just got the pre calc. She has also used keystone online school for geometry (her online school wanted and official credit for geo and keystone was cheaper than Ls) and she is currently filling out the tests for keystone algebra 2... She still used TT to learn the stuff, but her school wanted an official course to put on her transcript. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmie Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 I should note that calc will be purely hs ( same with precalc).. No more keystone tests! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I've never heard that Thinkwell Calc is best used as a supplement... Middle son went from TT Pre-Calc directly to Thinkwell Calc and did just fine with it. He did take our local cc placement test shortly after finishing TT Pre-Calc to be certain he was ready for Calc. He definitely was - scored the highest his adviser had ever seen on the test from a student who hadn't yet taken Calc - but that doesn't mean "everyone" will be just because they completed the course. Some kids retain math well and others could use extra practice. IMO, it's worth it to test for the peace of mind. Oldest used Chalkdust's Calc (after TT Pre-Calc and testing into Calc), but it was his experience with that prof that had middle son asking if I could find something else... Middle definitely preferred the prof with Thinkwell. Since middle is pre-med we opted to have him retake Calc 1 at his college rather than testing out via AP and he got an easy A, often tutoring peers. We have no complaints from Thinkwell as a stand-alone Calc course, but YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Derek Owens Calc AB. He is wonderful, and very responsive to the students if help is needed. We used Teaching Textbooks through Alg 2, then DO for Precalc and Calc AB. Daughter has had great test scores, and seems to have moved seamlessly into a university Calc 2 course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 My son's math before calculus was choppy. I recommend doing the pre-calculus with the program you think you will choose for calculus. even if it means some overlap with what she has already learned. We stalled out on calculus, because the publishers were assuming we had covered certain pre-calculus. Pre-calculus is a HUGE field of knowledge. I don't think there is any way to cover all of what might be covered in all calculus courses. We played around with a few publishers. This was in the very early 2000s, and with none of what you are listing except Saxon. If I had to do it all over again, and I am doing it all over again for my own self-education, I pick Saxon. We used Saxon Calculus 1st edition, as that is all there was for a LONG time, even after 3rd edition of the lower texts. I don't know what the current second edition is like. But, we really needed to have completed Saxon Advanced Math first. I was quite sick at the time, and I just couldn't keep up with trying to fill in the holes, and we just dropped calculus, and started prepping my son for the GED and early freshman status to the local junior college. Good luck. I think I spent more money on calculus that anything else, and got the least return for my money. It was a huge waste of time and money, that would have been better spent on learning to write research papers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 We used Saxon, older editions, with two students. They worked independently through the course without any supplements; one lesson per day, test on Saturday, one year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 I just don't think I'd jump into Saxon at the calculus level for a student who hasn't used it before. Goldstein Lay Schneider (the one you linked) is a perfectly reasonable textbook, and if you went with the 12th edition instead, much cheaper. Other solid, standard calculus textbooks would be Stewart, Larson, Thomas. They're all pretty interchangeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 for college texts such as Thomas, etc buy older editions - pretty much the same and much cheaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 DD20 used the videos from askdrcallahan.com her senior year - these go with the Stewart text. The lectures were very good and we had the solutions manual as well. Ask Dr. Callahan offers phone or email chat and will go over a particular problem with the student if they are not understanding the topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmie Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 I just don't think I'd jump into Saxon at the calculus level for a student who hasn't used it before. Goldstein Lay Schneider (the one you linked) is a perfectly reasonable textbook, and if you went with the 12th edition instead, much cheaper. Other solid, standard calculus textbooks would be Stewart, Larson, Thomas. They're all pretty interchangeable. What are your reasons for thinking it isn't a good idea to jump in to Saxon during Calc.? DD does have Saxon's Algebra 2, which she has been reading through to prep for the ACT (she hasn't gotten very far in her TT Precalc book and Saxon has a lesson on Sine, cosine, and tangent,which is something she needs to learn!). She was thinking of going with the Textbook I linked, but the reason she likes Saxon's calculus is that she can buy Oak Meadows syllabus with the textbook and have tests and such (as well as a teacher manual!). It seemed the most economical way to do it (Oak Meadows syllabus + saxon text book and think wells lectures). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 My ds loved Derek Owens Calculus this year . . . wish we'd used him for PreCalc his jr. year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbeth Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 We are huge fans of LOF but the exception to that is Calculus. Our very mathy dd who sailed through Pre-Alg to Trig with LOF detested the Calc. book. She had wanted to work on it at home for a semester prior to dual-enrollment. In college she used the Stewart text that is very popular with many schools and had a great experience. Someone makes video lectures for it if a live class isn't an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 What are your reasons for thinking it isn't a good idea to jump in to Saxon during Calc.? DD does have Saxon's Algebra 2, which she has been reading through to prep for the ACT (she hasn't gotten very far in her TT Precalc book and Saxon has a lesson on Sine, cosine, and tangent,which is something she needs to learn!). She was thinking of going with the Textbook I linked, but the reason she likes Saxon's calculus is that she can buy Oak Meadows syllabus with the textbook and have tests and such (as well as a teacher manual!). It seemed the most economical way to do it (Oak Meadows syllabus + saxon text book and think wells lectures). Sorry, I totally missed this post. Saxon's incremental method of teaching takes some getting used to and doesn't work for some students. If a student has been using it since Alg 1 or earlier and doing great, that's one thing, but I really don't like the idea of changing teaching styles completely for one year and then changing back to the more standard style. It's also going to be completely out of order for Thinkwell's lectures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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